The disclosure relates to methods and apparatus that provide target location reminders for a mobile device such as, but not limited to, those that support a geo-fence based technique for providing target location reminders for a user of the mobile device.
Wireless mobile devices such as smart phones, tablets, laptops, wearables, and other mobile devices may employ target location reminders for users of the mobile device using various techniques. One technique includes employing static predefined geo-fences (or nearness radius areas) that a user may set by dragging a graphic representation of a circle on a device touch screen or otherwise defining a predefined area around a target reminder location so that when the mobile device enters the predefined geo-fence, the mobile device provides the user with an audible and/or visual reminder.
For example, if a user wants to be notified when they are close to a particular pharmacy, the user can either through an application user interface, or through accessing a website, set a predefined geo-fence area around a target location. Using known techniques such as GPS location units within the mobile device, or location units that are in servers (e.g., web server) that receive location transmissions from the mobile device, the mobile device can be detected either inside or outside the geo-fence. The mobile device itself or a server can determine through the use of a location unit (e.g., GPS receiver) the location of the mobile device and compare the location to the geographic area of the geo-fence. If the mobile device is within the geo-fence, then the mobile device provides the user with a tactile, audible, and/or visual location notification reminder that the user is close to a target location and an event description can be presented on the device display such as “pick up medication from pharmacy”. Geo-fences can be linked to a user's calendar events so that, for example, the mobile device notifies a user based on calendar events on a particular day when their mobile device is within the geo-fence corresponding to an event in a calendar. Other uses of geo-fence techniques are also known.
However, setting static predefined geo-fences or other type of geo-fence settings for use in reminding the user based on the mobile device location can fail to take into account important considerations that can have an impact on the user reminder experience.